ACBL
World Computer-Bridge Championship, VII

Jack
Retains Title of World Computer-Bridge Champion

The American
Contract Bridge League’s 7th annual world computer-bridge championship
pitted nine of the best bridge-playing programs from around the world against
each other for the title of 2003 World Computer-Bridge Champion.The venue was Menton, France, at the site of the European Bridge
League’s first Open European Championships.The climate was “cool” as the computer-bridge championship was
played at the Bridge Club of Menton, the only air-conditioned bridge playing
facility in Menton.Players
participating in the Open Championship, along with journalist, came to watch
the action.Some came because
they were truly interested in the progress of computer-bridge and some came to
get away from the sweltering heat in the human playing areas.

Al
Levy, this year’s ACBL president, established this event in 1997 at the
suggestion of New York Times bridge editor, Alan Truscott, and has been the
coordinator ever since.The
championship is to be held annually at an important international bridge
event.The preceding six
championships were held three times at ACBL NABCs and three times at World
Bridge Federation world championships.

The five-day format started
with a 20-board round robin, scored on a 25 VP scale, with the top four
programs advancing to the 64-board KO segment, with carryover.To have a carryover in the KO segment, a program must have both won its
head-to-head round robin match and ended higher in the overall round robin
standings than its KO opponent.The
carryover is then the lesser of these two VP differences.

Round
Robin 20-board matches

Place

VPs

BCB

Baron

Jack

Meadow

Micro

Oxford

Q-Plus

Sabrina

Wb5

Blue Chip Bridge
UK

7

88

Imps

VPs

16-80

3

14-84

2

92-40

25

28-67

7

18-50

8

41-42

15

75-9

25

34-96

3

Bridge Baron
USA

4

141

80-16

25

36-44

14

106-29

25

55-63

14

64-75

13

27-52

10

132-10

25

46-45

15

Jack
The Netherlands

2

162

64-14

25

44-36

16

126-22

25

13-39

10

82-22

25

61-47

18

134-06

25

45-30

18

Meadowlark
Bridge
USA

8

29

40-92

5

29-106

1

22-126

0

10-120

0

25-138

0

1-132

0

66-27

23

0-108

0

Micro Bridge
Japan

3

161

67-28

23

63-55

16

39-13

20

120-10

25

102-12

25

55-38

19

113-5

25

21-56

8

Oxford Bridge
UK

6

121

50-18

22

75-64

17

22-92

3

138-25

25

12-102

0

48-41

16

110-26

25

50-59

13

Q-Plus Bridge
Germany

5

128

42-41

15

52-27

20

47-61

12

132-1

25

38-55

11

41-48

14

107-8

25

19-65

6

Sabrina
France

9

9

9-75

2

10-132

0

6-134

0

27-66

7

5-113

0

26-113

0

26-119

0

7-114

0

Wbridge5
France

1

165

96-34

25

45-46

15

30-45

12

108-0

25

56-21

22

59-50

17

65-19

24

114-7

25

After
nine round robin segments, with each program sitting out one round, Wbridge5
topped all competitors with 165 VPs.Closely
behind were two-time defending champion, Jack, with 162 VPs, and Micro Bridge
with 161 VPs.Fourth place was
decided in the final round robin segment, in which Bridge Baron defeated
Wbridge5 46-45 to narrowly take fourth place over Q-Plus Bridge.

Wbridge5,
finishing first and played fourth place Bridge Baron, while second place Jack
was matched against third place Micro Bridge. The competition was so close
that there were no carryovers in either semifinal match.

In
their semifinal match, Jack defeated Micro Bridge 167-81.Would history repeat itself with Wbridge5 and Jack meeting in the
finals, as they did last year in Montreal? Bridge Baron had something to say
about that.In one of the
strongest comebacks in computer-bridge history Bridge Baron came back from a
47 Imp deficit, with 16 boards to play, to defeat Wbridge5 143-139.

Semifinals

Carryover

1-16

17-32

33-48

49-64

Total

Wbridge5,
France

0

20

60

40

19

139

Bridge
Baron, USA

0

36

19

18

70

143

Jack,
The Netherlands

0

36

33

59

39

167

Micro
Bridge, Japan

0

9

26

12

34

81

One board that gave
Wbridge5 some of its early lead was board 16 of the third quarter.

In
the finals Jack defeated Bridge Baron 188-117 to retain the title of World
Computer-Bridge Champion. This is Jack's third year in a row as title holder.
Jack won the 2001 championship in Toronto, defeating Micro Bridge in the
final, and the 2002 championship in Montreal, defeating Wbridge5 in the final.

Final

Carryover

1-16

17-32

33-48

49-64

Total

Bridge
Baron, USA

26

29

6

56

117

Jack,
The Netherlands

2

79

34

56

17

188

Jack
accumulated an early lead, in part due to board 7, and never looked back.

After
2ª
by North, South made an asking bid and North showed 4 trumps and a minimum
hand.Jack (South) judged that
game was a good Imp bet and bid game.Bridge
Baron (BB) led the §Q.Jack ducked and eventually ruffed out the §A
to set up the §K
for a diamond pitch.+620 to Jack

In
the replay, Bridge Baron stopped in 3ª.Jack led the ¨5.Bridge Baron won the ¨K
in hand and led to the §K
and East’s §A.Nine tricks were the limit.+140
and 10 Imps to Jack.

Bridge Baron made a comeback in
the fourth quarter, but was too far behind to make it close. Bridge Baron
demonstrating good play on board 53.

Great Software
Giveaway Promotion

In
recognition that bridge is a wonderful game for youngsters, helping to develop
their logical and analytical skills, the ACBL
Educational Foundation funded a software giveaway, in conjunction with the
world computer-bridge championship.This
funding, along with the cooperation of the software developers, will allow at
least 150 pieces of software to be given away to young players, under 26 years
old, who are members of a recognized National Bridge Organization.The programs to be given away include, Jack, Bridge Baron, Micro
Bridge, Q-Plus Bridge, Oxford Bridge, Blue Chip Bridge, and Fred Gitelman’s
Bridge Master 2000.

Thanks
to the European Bridge League, and in particular, Gianarrigo Rona, president
of the EBL, and the president’s assistant, Christina MacEachen, for their
support in running this year’s championships.Special thanks to Felix Giani, president of the Bridge Club of Menton,
for his total cooperation.Most
of all, thanks to all the contestants who participated with great
sportsmanship and mutual cooperation.Their
goal is clearly to push the state-of-the-art as far as they can.

Maybe
one day we will see Jack and company defeat a team captained by Zia and
company.Or, how about a
challenge to Bill Gates, who claimed last year, in a press conference at the
WBF championships in Montreal, that he could beat the best bridge-playing
programs.